


One Way Ticket To Another Life

by Rairi



Series: The World Was Not Made For Us [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 03:04:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20959418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rairi/pseuds/Rairi
Summary: Days after Kiri falls to civil war, Konoha receives a refugee seeking asylum for her and her children. The process is fraught with tension, and Konoha's Hokage must make a decision.





	One Way Ticket To Another Life

One handy thing about being Yuuna’s partner was that you never had to work at conversation. She carried it all on her own, requiring little input from Yuudai, which meant that while he paid attention to what she said, he didn’t need to put much effort.

Another handy thing was that she knew when to shut up.

When the trees in front rustled lightly out of sync from the breeze, she immediately cut herself off and straightened up in her position at the outpost gate, as Yuudai did the same on the other end. The rustling was obvious to the trained eye, the polite equivalent of an “I am here” from a shinobi, so it was probably just someone coming back from a mission, but it paid to be vigilant.

Especially when the small woman that dropped down from the trees was certainly no Konoha shinobi that he’d ever seen, wearing as she was a Kirigakure vest over a dark, desaturated green-blue kosode, dark grey leggings and tabi boots, a blue scarf, and cloth wrapped around her middle and over her shoulder, carrying what looked like a toddler and an infant. They immediately they drew their weapons – kodachi at Yuuna’s left, naginata at Yuudai’s right – and took complementary stances, Yuuna keeping out of Yuudai’s range. A closer look revealed a quartermaster’s supply of senbon bristling in her hair, but no big weapons. A ninjutsu woman?

There was a moment of silence in which Yuudai prepared to run out to meet the enemy – how could a Kiri-nin, even a single one, have gotten so deep into Konoha territory without being captured? How many more were there? – when she dropped to her knees, arms raised above her head, and her low, harsh voice rang out into the clearing between the trees and the outpost’s wall. “I surrender and seek asylum for my children”.

Yuudai wanted to snort, but the children, unless henged, were a compelling argument for believing her. Yuuna was already reporting on the radio to the next outpost. “This is Outpost Charlie-16, contact with an Echo Sierra, Kiri, claiming asylum for two children. Keep an eye out for other Echo Sierra. Over and out”. Yuudai stepped forward, keeping his naginata ready and aimed at her as he kept an eye on the children. They seemed real enough, if surprisingly quiet. The baby at the front burbled something, which was par the course for babies as far as Yuudai knew about them, but the toddler hanging over her the back…

That was a very suspicious gaze for a toddler.

“Wilco, Charlie-16” crackled the radio at Yuuna’s side, as the two of them began edging to flank the tall woman. “Notifying the patrols. Keep us updated”.

The woman’s thin, narrow eyes were set in deep shadows, testament to sleepless nights and exhaustion, but her expression was the type you’d expect to be associated with loose killing intent, grim and murderous. Her sharp cheekbones were not just the product of hunger, and her narrow jaw was offset by a small, upturned nose that could have been called cute on another face, but simply looked out of place in her.

The children pulled off the upturned nose a lot better.

The woman stayed still where she was, staring levelly at the two of them, but Yuudai could see the twitch in her jaw of repressed motion, how tightly coiled she was for action. “That’s a pretty sharp glare for a toddler” he called out, even as his eyes flicked at Yuuna with a slight tilt towards the woman. Even with his dulled senses, standing so close to her, Yuudai could feel Yuuna’s chakra spread out to sweep their asylum seeker in response to his unvoiced request.

Her gaze transferred to him, and looking at him like he was an idiot she wanted to stab and skin. This was probably an accurate impression. “Notify Konoha” she said, ignoring what he had said. “Kiri has fallen to civil war. If they want to act to spread their borders, now is the time to act”.

Silence greeted that extraordinary statement. Yuuna broke it suddenly with her usual no-nonsense approach: “Migi, the children’s chakra signatures are age-appropriate”. No trained shinobi holding a henge then – and the family resemblance in those upturned noses, the yellow-green of their eyes, and the now noticeable scent of sour milk wafting from her certainly added credence to her claim.

“I seek asylum for my children” she repeated, voice level as she glared at them, and the two of them stepped forward together, provoking a repressed flinch. The toddler’s gaze transferred from Yuudai to Yuuna, still unnervingly sharp and suspicious for someone so young. Kiri sure bred them skeptical from a young age.

“Hidari, report her claims about Kiri” he said, and watched the woman as the – still unbelievable – claim was transmitted. “Disarm yourself” he said. “And we can begin processing your asylum request”. A crackle sounded from the radio as the other end began speaking clear enough for the three of them to hear. “Charlie-16, proceed with processing, but hold the Echo Sierra until a team arrives with support. We have a Papa India Sierra Tango here, over and out”. “Wilco base, over and out” responded Yuuna, her eyes never leaving the woman. PIST – potential Intel S tier. Well, that stood to reason, if her claim of civil war in Kiri were true.

At the silence that met the end of that exchange, Yuuna lifted an eyebrow. “Well, what are you waiting for? Disarm yourself”. The woman stared at her for a beat, her eyes narrowing fractionally, before she reached to her sides slowly and began to take out kunai and smoke bombs from her pouches, ninja wire and caltrops, a whole arsenal, laying them down carefully on the floor. The baby gurgled and reached out for the metal shining in sunlight, and she paused and gently took out a much-abused stuffed dog that might have been shiny once, and handed it to the baby, who immediately put it into their mouth.

Right.

When she stopped removing her weapons and started raising her hands again, Yuuna spoke out again. “Including the senbon in your hair” she said, and watched as the woman hesitated, before she reached up into her hair and slowly began piling the senbon on the floor with the other weapons. How on Earth had the toddler strapped to her back not hurt themselves with the spiky bun?

When the woman finished dropping all the senbon, Yuuna took a step forward. “Move seven meters to your left, and kneel” she said, warily, and waited until the woman was kneeling down again before taking careful, measured steps towards the pile. Yuudai shadowed her, flanking the woman – if she attacked one, she’d expose her back to the other. That done, Yuuna laid out a spare sealing scroll onto the ground and began piling the weapons on it. “State your name and registration number” he said and watched as something sour pulled across her expression before she responded. “Katakiri Hinoki, AB+, 136148008”. As she finished rattling out the number, the weapons Yuuna had piled disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

Satisfied, Yuuna straightened out and stowed the scroll, facing the woman again. “Alright Katakiri-san, we’re going to wait here for a team to arrive. I strongly suggest” in a tone that brooked no argument “that you stay right where you are and stay still until they arrive”.

There was no response, only a mulish set to the woman’s features, before she nodded.

They settled to wait, still alert, muscles relaxed but ready to respond to any sudden movement – which came in the form of the baby in front kicking their legs and dropping their stuffed dog on the ground. There was a moment where the baby stared down, and then began to move restlessly. The mother’s hand twitched as if to go pick it up, but seemed to control herself and looked at them in what was totally not asking for permission, just letting them know that she was about to move.

The baby made a sound that was suspiciously reminiscent of the beginning of a wail, and Yuudai nodded. Moving slowly, Katakiri scooped up the toy and gave back to the toy to their child, who began to bite the toy with the trademark Kiri sharpened teeth.

Well, there was never going to be any question as to the heritage of that particular baby.

Mercifully, the wait didn’t take long, before a polite scuff announced the arrival of a squad of chuunin led by two jounin arrived, accompanied by one shinobi in the greys of T&I carrying a clipboard. Yuuna and Yuudai saluted a greeting and watched as the jounin took over. One was a tall, willowy woman with bright red, pointy goggles on her face and a wide, toothy grin. The second jounin was a short man, all the shorter in comparison to the woman, darker skinned and with a ferocious scowl.

“Uh oh, they’re not skimping on the guard” muttered Yuuna to Yuudai as she took in Hakuryu Tenri and her on and off partner, Ashinoko Akakishi. The two immediately started bickering over how to best take the woman to Konoha proper – “just fucking blindfold her already and one of us takes the children!” grumbled Ashinoko, while Hakuryu shook her head. “Oh my sweet sakuranbo tart, my genjutsu will cover the path forwards, and will result in less chance of bloodshed at a woman having her children taken away from her” she pointed out, and grinned at Katakiri, “right, refugee-san?”

Katakiri tensed. “As long as I stay with my children” she said, grim.

Hakuryu’s smile grew sharper, edged with something unpleasant, as her hands flicked out and wove into the seals needed to shape her genjutsu. “Welcome to Konoha, refugee-san. Don’t try to break the genjutsu, and I’m sure you won’t regret this”.


End file.
